SINGAPORE NEWS & NOTES
*In the inaugural Singapore Open last year, (2)Krawczyk-Olmos emerged victorious in the final with a 7-5, 6-0 win over (3)Wang-Zheng. The two seeds were slight 1.70 (-142) favorites in the title match. Overall, three of the four seeds make the semifinals.
*Super tie breaks made up nearly half the results in 2025 with six of the 14 completed matches going the distance. It was an even split with three in the opening round and three more in the quarterfinals. Four of the six involved a seeded pair.
*Underdogs did not have a good time in Singapore with only two wins. The largest came in round one when Uchijima-Xu upset top seeds Dolehide-Townsend as 3.11 (+211) dogs. The other dog score was in the quarterfinals at a much more modest 2.07 (+107).
*What’s the story as the Asian swing begins? There are two pairs in Singapore trying to chase down Bucsa/Melichar-Martinez for the #8 spot in the doubles race for the WTA Finals. They’re making that tougher task after a run to the Guadalajara final this past week. Mihalikova-Nicholls, the two seeds, and unseeded Eikeri-Gleason are the two teams looking to make up that deficit. Mihalikova-Nichols start close, but still a bit over 750 points out of that final spot. Eikeri-Gleason are a few hundred points behind Mihalikova-Nicholls. This is a 500-level tournament though, so they can cut into that deficit quickly with a title run.
*The seeded field is led by Hunter-Krawczyk with the American looking for the repeat in Singapore with a new partner. They’re 5-4 this season and have yet to make a final in their 24 matches together over the last season and a half or so. I already mentioned the two seeds Mihalikova-Nicholls. As always, it’s your guess and mine as to which version of them we shall see. Right now, it’s been mostly a slump with them losing their opener in four of their last five tournaments. That said, they’ve had some success during this Asian swing in their previous two runs with a semifinal in Hong Kong in 2024 and a semifinal in Wuhan last year. The last two seeds bring a fresh look with Kato-Perez and Mladenovic-Panova. The three seeds make their debut as a pair with Mladenovic-Panova having one match together back in 2014, so basically no experience together. That could mean we see some unseeded runs this week. And that brings us to the section below …
With this being just the second run in Singapore, there’s no real trend to follow, so these will just be pairs that stick out as ones to watch. Last year as previously mentioned, only one unseeded pair made it to the semifinals. With some different pairings among the seeds and some struggling seeds overall though, there looks to be some room for the Unseeded Menaces to make some noise.
Neel-Olmos
The other half of last year’s championship duo, Olmos, is here. I’ve featured this pair quite a bit in this section and deservedly so as they’ve gone 10-6 this year with a final and some marquee wins over Danilina-Krunic on two different surfaces. They come in off a solid round of 16 showing at the U.S. Open. They will be a danger right away for (4)Mladenovic-Panova.
Routliffe-Sutjiadi/Krejcikova-Chwalinska
First of all, Barbora Krejcikova doubles sighting! That’s been a rare sight in 2026 with the Czech playing just five doubles matches. Chwalinska herself has only played eleven doubles matches this year (6-5), but she was part of a big upset at the U.S. Open with Linette as her partner. They took down Wimbledon champions Guo-Mladenovic in round one. Routliffe-Sutjiadi have become a consistent threat on hard courts since reforming this Summer. They’re 10-3 with a title run in Washington and a solid quarterfinal showing at the U.S. Open. The survivor of this one could be a big threat although I’m always weary of Krejcikova pulling the plug these days if she makes a deep singles run. Chwalinska seems much less likely to do so.
Garland-Hsieh
This pair is sure to garner a lot of fandom this week. It will be the pair from Taiwan’s first time pairing together. Hsieh has been brilliant on this surface in 2026 at 27-9, but that all came alongside Ostapenko. She had three different partners last year during this run with Cirstea, Ostapenko and Siniakova. She made the semifinals in two of those three tournaments. As for Garland, this is her first doubles match since 2023 and a very rare foray into a WTA main draw in doubles. They could add to the woes of Mihalikova-Nicholls as they square off in round one. This pair is also in the same quarter as the aforementioned Routliffe-Sutjiadi and Krejcikova-Chwalinska, so strap in for some fun.
Tang-Xu
They might not seem an exciting options at just 3-4 in four tournaments this season. Two of those ended in semifinal runs though, so they’ve done some good work on this surface. They dropped their openers in Toronto and Cincinnati in super tie breaks, so they’ve been competitive for the most part. Given this post U.S. Open landscape where motivation can sometimes be different for different people, I would expect this Chinese pair to put their best foot forward and they could make for a tough out.
ONE AND DONE WATCH
The maiden run of the Singapore Open saw the top seeded pair lose their opener a year ago and two other seeds were taken to super tie breaks to survive. I think with this being the first tournament post U.S. Open and some shaky looking seeds, we could be in store for some upsets.
(2)Mihalikova-Nicholls
I already touched on this pair above, but to reiterate, they’ve lost their opener four times in their last five tournaments and they draw Garland-Hsieh to open. Hsieh was part of those opening match woes in helping deliver a “L” to the two seeds in Cincinnati. Can she do it again with a new partner?
(4)Mladenovic-Panova
This duo will be looking to find some chemistry with just the one match from over a decade to go on. They are in a tough spot as they draw Neel-Olmos, who have been a consistent team this Summer. Mladenovic has been on the losing end of two openers in her last three tournaments as has Panova. All four of those losses went the distance, so maybe don’t be surprised to see this starter going to a super tie break with Neel-Olmos having a legitimate shot to score the mild upset.
DRAW PREVIEW
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TOP HALF
The first quarter sets up fairly well for the top seeds Hunter-Krawczyk. They will start with Ninomiya-Radisic, who are pairing for the first time. I don’t have the #1 seeds on one and done watch, but this could be an interesting match. Both Ninomiya and Radisic have had success this year and are used to partner swapping. If there’s some chemistry present, then this may well end up being a tougher time for Hunter-Krawczyk. The other match in this quarter pits a pair in Tang-Xu who do have experience together this year against first timers Ferro-Fruhvirtova. Tang-Xu made semifinals in both Merida and Washington on hard courts, but are on a three match losing skid. Their last two matches went to super tie breaks. I’d give them the edge here. Tang-Xu are the kind of team who could hassle the top seeds if that’s the match-up we see for the semifinal berth.
The second quarter has (3)Kato-Perez as the seeds. They get Sakkari-Vekic, a pair known more for singles and for good reason as they’ve gone 0-7 in doubles play together. That’s not to say they can’t be competitive with four of those matches going the distance. Eikeri-Gleason battle Lanzere-Prozorova in the match opposite of that one. Eikeri-Gleason have the experience advantage. They do have a half dozen opening match losses this year in 16 tournaments played. That includes their last match at the U.S. Open. Lansere has been a good producer in doubles this year although a lot of her success has come at ITF events. She’s made four finals with three of those coming at the ITF level. Prozorova is less experienced in doubles, but the Russian pair could be intriguing to watch. Perez is playing with just her fourth different partner this year, but the lefty has shown good results when not with her regular partner Schuurs. She’s gone 4-2 in those two tournaments paired with Bucsa in one and Joint in the other.
TOP HALF FORECAST
I don’t think anyone is a shoe-in to advance in this half. Hunter-Krawczyk haven’t been able to make deep runs consistently as a pair, but this might be about as good a shot as they get. Still, there are some experienced unseeded pairs in the mix here like Tang-Xu and Eikeri-Gleason who will make things interesting. And some of the first time duos, who knows? They could capture lighting in-a-bottle. Kato-Perez intrigue me. I do think Hunter-Krawczyk played some of their better tennis in New York with the 7-6, 6-4 loss to Siniakova-Townsend a fair result in a loss. I think their path is workable to a semifinal run and with Krawczyk’s success here last year, perhaps Singapore is one of those spots where good fortune follows. I do think there are enough unseeded menaces in this half to likely grab a semifinal spot, it’s probably just a question of who gets hot?
SEMIFINAL PIX: (1)Hunter-Krawczyk vs Eikeri-Gleason
BOTTOM HALF
This third quarter looks like it could well come down to who survives round one between (4)Mladenovic-Panova and Neel-Olmos. I’m Team Neel-Olmos. They’ve shown me enough to think they’ll be able to take advantage of the seeds who are going to be seeking chemistry on-the-fly. The other match in this quarter is interesting with two pairs that do have experience together. Cascino-Feng have more with a 19-9 mark together. That includes 9-5 this year, but all but two of those wins have come on clay. They did play on hard courts together last year during this time of the season with back-to-back semifinals, but at the 125-level. The question really is how they will fare with the step up in competition. Their opponents, Costoulas-Gibson played one tournament together in 2025. They made the ITF Nantes final indoors. Costoulas is unbeaten in two doubles tournaments at the ITF level this year and Gibson made the Australian Open quarterfinals alongside Aussie compatriot Birrell as well as winning titles on grass in Birmingham with Tjen. If they find that chemistry again, they could be a sleeper in this section.
The final quarter looks like it could have several BANGERS loading. Two seeds Mihalikova-Nicholls are going to have a hard time breaking their recent one and done woes with Garland-Hsieh up first. Yes, that’s a debut match, but you can never undersell the chances Hsieh has on this surface, especially during this time of year. The real attraction to me though is the other match in round one. Krejcikova-Chwalinska against Routliffe-Sutjiadi. It’s really a shame this is in round one as both of these pairings can be thought of as contenders in this draw. Certainly chemistry is a question mark for Krejcikova and Chwalinska as they play for the first time, but they’re both so skilled that it would be a shock for them to be non-competitive. We know what to expect from Routliffe-Sutjiadi, so they’ll be favored. Even though Mihalikova-Nicholls have that ability to put together a run out of nowhere, I would be stunned if this quarter didn’t fall to one of the unseeded pairs.
BOTTOM HALF FORECAST
The feeling for me is that this half has a real shot to produce not just an unseeded finalist, but potentially an unseeded champion. There’s so much quality in this half among the unseeded pairs and plenty of questions about the seeds. I wouldn’t be stunned by a Garland-Hsieh run, but they are an unknown to start. The known pairs that look likely to do the most damage here would be Neel-Olmos or Routliffe-Sutjiadi. Realistically though, there are other pairs like Costoulas-Gibson who could thrive as well, so pick your poison. I just don’t think taking a seed is the right call for me, unless Mladenovic-Panova are the ones … and they could be. For me though, this is the chaos half and I am looking for upsets.
SEMIFINAL PIX: Neel-Olmos vs Krejcikova-Chwalinska
This is an intriguing draw and the first tournaments after the U.S. Open for many pairs are always interesting to watch to see who might be worn down at this stage and who is still pushing to the end of the bloated calendar. The seeds here for me are not head and shoulders above the rest of the field, so I think this tournament is going to be one where anything can happen from beginning to end. Hunter-Krawczyk got themselves into the better half I think, even though there are still talented unseeded pairs like Eikeri-Gleason who could push for a final. That said, I think Hunter-Krawczyk are due to finally get that break-through, at least to get as far as the final itself. Their play has been better of late, so we will see if that translates. The bottom half as I stated is where I would look to see an unseeded “surprise” and there’s plenty to choose from. Even though I picked them for a semifinal, it’s more hope than trust I think that Krejcikova sees her fitness good enough to pull off playing both draws. Then again, an early singles loss could chang things. I’d rather go with Neel-Olmos who have shown the ability to compete with the better pairs in the WTA. But … Krejcikova-Chwalinska are my dark horse picks.
Hunter-Krawczyk
Neel-Olmos
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